June 2018 Peter Giddy Guided Tours. Port Elizabeth. Addo Safari

June 2018 Peter Giddy Guided Tours.  Port Elizabeth.

Amazing Tours and Safaris

• Addo Elephant Park
• Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
• City, Cultural, Historical and Township Tours
• Horse Riding -- Beach or Wildlife 
• Hiking -- Beach or Forest
• Garden Route Adventures
• Transfers -- Hotel, Airport and Wildlife Reserves
• Shore Excursions

Contact Peter Giddy Guided Tours
peter.giddy@gmail.com

Barbara on Summerstrand Beach for the Saturday parkrun.

Hobie Beach parkrun on the Summerstrand Pollock Beaches.

Saturday afternoon I watch the U15 to First team vs St Andrews.  St Andrews win 3 of the five matches including the First Team.  This is mainly due to superior speed and ball handling in the St Andrews Camp.  Clever play and fewer unforced errors combined with fitness and backline speed, made St Andrews the better school overall.
Friday 1st June.  Swimming 1500m with Megan. And NMU Marking is how I spend most of the day.
Saturday 2nd June.  Run the Grassroof (Helpers) Parkrun with Adrienne and then the Hobie beach parkrun with Barbara.  Breakfast at Urban and then Rugby at Grey. And in America, Washington, South African Springboks are beaten by Wales 22-20.

Sunday.  Kragga Kamma with Larry and Martin.  Hunters who were in Alicedale same as Fredrik from last month.
Monday 4th.  Start the chilly morning with a 1500m swim with Megan.  I have an Addo with one guest -- Roberto from Brazil.

 Roberto and I have lunch at Jacks

 After lunch we decide to take Harveys Loop and are rewarded with -- Dungbeetles; A Jackal; a couple of families of Elephant.

 And a brotherhood of male Lions to top it all.

 Two magnificent animals in the late afternoon sun.

And then, without really expecting anything more after the Lions, we come across this herd of Buffalo on Vukani.  What a day it turned out to be!
Tuesday 5th.  Running in the morning and then getting through a list of activities for the day including my Combi Tyres and Headlights; Visiting my Tax consultant and Bank. And Ron comes over to visit

We are 28 walkers this morning.  17 men and 11 women. The total hike is about 9km.

The boy with the red scrum cap runs through the Clarendon boys with Daniel on the chase

Daniel pulls him down before he can score.
Wednesday -- Swimming at Newton Park Pool with Megan (1500m) and then fetch Robin for a Royalston Hiking trail.  Wednesday afternoon ... Daniel has a Rugby Match at Clarendon vs Grey.  Grey dominate the game; however Daniel is the star player with his tackling and running with the ball.

The Dune Section of the Sacramento Trail looking across towards Jeffreys Bay.

The Sacramento Trail looking across the Indian Ocean from the West side of Algoa Bay.

Tuna Salad with --- Baby Spinach; Feta; Chopped peppers, carrot, cucumber and tomato; Avocado; Mixed seeds; Sweet Corn and Tuna.  Sprinkle a little Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil.
Thursday -- Running with Chris; Elmarie; Viv; Stephany; Pat and Adrienne at the beach front.  Then hiking the Sacramento trail with the Thursday walking group.  This afternoon I make what I call an "Amazing Tuna Salad.

 Laura enjoys the close ups of Zebra

Picnic Lunch with Pedro; Jessica and Laura.  Today we were the only picnicers at Jacks.  And almost the only Guided Tour in Addo.
Friday 8th.  Swimming with Megan; Greg; Armand and Rob.  I have now swum 1500m six times in a row which is my best training record.  The others tend to power through the water while I simply plod on trying to make up time.
Addo Safari with Pedro and Jessica from Brazil. They work in an aircraft factory near to Sau Paulo and Laura from France who is writing a Thesis in Sustainable Tourism.

 Adriennes support Group -- Viv; Elmarie; Susan; Ronel; Pat and Chris.   Also at the run are Tammy; Bernt; Catherine; Ivor; Tina; Sally; Barbara Foot and many more of her parkrun friends

 Adrienne makes announcements at the start.  Balloons, Sash and Dunce cap to make it special.

Adrienne shares Coffee and Carrot Cake with the group.

At the Grassroof (Sardinia Bay) parkrun.
Saturday 9th.  Morning run with Chris; Anton; Stefany; Lindi.
We do the Parkrun at Grassroof --- It is Adrienne's 100th parkrun so she has run 500kms of parkrunning.

Sardinia Bay parkrun results for event #63. Your time was 00:38:56.

Congratulations on completing your 61st parkrun and your 7th at Sardinia Bay parkrun today. You finished in 115th place and were the 75th male out of a field of 279 parkrunners and you came 2nd in your age category VM65-69.

Kragga Kamma Rhino next to our vehicle

 Cheetah waiting in anticipation of Lunch being served

Yolanda and Joshua are from the Netherlands and are in South Africa for a three week adventure holiday.

A win for South Africa at Ellis Park creates a positive vibe for all South Africa after some dismal performances in recent international clashes.
Saturday 9th; afternoon -- Kragga Kamma Tour with Joshua and Yolanda from Netherlands.  He is taking on the position of HR in a company while Yolanda is doing On Line Marketing for a variety of companies.
This evening SA play England at Ellis Park.  A first in a number of ways.  Siya Kolisi -- a Grey boy -- is the first ever black man to achieve Springbok Captain and this is also the first time that 8 black men have been chosen in the starting line for a Springbok team. Well done to the coach, Rassie Erasmus, for taking this bold move.  The South Africans are behind in the first quarter 24 - 8 but move up with three tries before half time and then end the game with a win of 42-39.

John Nelson and Claire Breedske running up Cowies. John finished his first Comrades in 10.27.
Sunday 10th.  Comrades Day.  A good day for South Africa as we win the Mens and Ladies events.
Today the SA Sevens Team win the World Tournament when they beat England.
Monday.  Running 8km with Adrienne; Viv; Stephany; Gaye and Mitch.  While running I meet Eddie on his bike;  who was on the Wednesday walk.  Eddie is a cyclist.  Also run at the end with Kate. Afternoon swim at Newton Park Pool.  The pool is full of Ironmen training.  I find a lane and manage 2200m before I have to retire with cramps.
Township Tour with Margaret White.

 Cape Robin shares lunch with us.

Victor and Anna Marie are volunteering on a farm in East London.  They are here for a few days to do a bit of exploring.
Tuesday -- Running 8km with Chris; Steff; Adrienne; Neil; Jenna; Ronel and Kate at the end.
Addo with Anna Marie from Germany and Victor from France. This morning we see three Hyena.. A first for me to see a pack of three at once.
Wednesday.  This week is Megan's turn to fetch.  We swim 1500m.  In the pool is Rob; Armand; Greg; Chantalay and Abdul.

SAARP Group -- Monthly Social Meeting. 

Three men from Croatia who had signed off from their ship and decided to do a half day Addo Tour.
I give a presentation of our Portuguese Camino at the Legacy Church to SAARP Members.
And have an Addo Tour with three men from the ships. Later the second last Alpha of this season.  With Brian; Charles; Brian and Hermine; Frank and Joy.

Jordan and Alex are on a 9 month travelling holiday and spending two weeks in Shamwari from here and then to Australia where they will be working for 6 months.
Thursday.... Running 7km with Neil; Jenna; Chris; Ronel and Lindi.
Addo Tour with Jordan and Alex.  Unfortunately the afternoon west wind made the going heavy with huge dust storms .

Son of Hamas -- A biography of a man born and raised in Gaza and the West Bank. Raised as a Muslim -- the son of one of the founders of Hamas.  Easy and fast reading. Compelling and interesting reading.
Friday 15.  Swimming with Megan, Chantalay; Greg; Armand and Abdul.  1300m - 5km for the week is my best week ever I think. Spend most of the day reading Son of Hammas -- An interesting biography of a man who was the son of a founder of the Hamas in Gaza.

Octavia and Marilyn at the Beachfront Youth Day 10km

Jenna; Viv and Neil run a 17km training run from Hobie beach.

Saturday morning -- Youth Day.  10km from the beach front.  Not many Achilleans there.  Run with Herman; Hennie; Lizelle;  and Achilleans I see there are Robin; Lesley; Chrisitine; Alan; Bennie; Sizinzo;
151 541 1616 MARILYN BULL NEDBANK F 40 40-44F 0.52.51
203 204 1116 PETER GIDDY ACH M 67 65-69M 0.57.04
276 2449 705 OCTAVIA BOSHOFF CRUSADE F 48 45-49F 1.04.24

Saturday evening -- Springboks play 2nd test vs England at Bloemfontein.  Last week the Boks managed to pull a win out of a losing first few minutes.  So this week they did the same with England scoring 2 tries in the first ten minutes for a 12-0 lead.  The Boks went on to win the game 23-12 with some accurate kicking from Pollard the Flyhalf.  And that is despite the poor play by our Scrumhalf Faf Du Preez who frequently kicked away possession.  Everyone else in the team shone this afternoon. Beast Tendai Matariwa played his 100th game for the Bokke.
Sunday -- a Short Run and then shopping for tiles and bathroom stuff for our new bedrooom / bathroom that we are creating.

 Daniel is a part of the Clarendon Park Jungle Book show.  A well presented and entertaining presentation.

I have been making Crunchies and Rusks recently.

I have made two Soups -- Chicken Vegetable and Butternut.  Unfortunately the Butternut is not good as I forgot that we dont have a Blender.
Monday -- swimming with Megan 1500m.  Then Cycling 20k on the Yellow Lines with Andrea at Grassroof 20km.  Working on some Dole stuff for the first time in ages. Fetching Tiles from CTM.  Daniel Show at Clarendon. Cell Group with Claudine and Cronje.
Tuesday 19th.  Run 7km with Elmarie; Chris; Ronel; Viv; Jenna; Liesl; Stefany and Mitch.  Mike is in the Cayman Islands for the birth of his first grandchild. Neil took the morning off. Adrienne is off to Canada for a month.

At the start of the Sleepy Hollow Hiking trail with the Wednesday walkers.
Wednesday -- Swimming 1200m with Megan; Armand and Greg.
Hiking the Sleepy Hollow Trail near to Blue Horizon Bay.  This walk takes us just on 2.5 hours.
This evening I attend my final Alpha course and Ally flies home from Stellenbosch, for the holidays.

Thursday walking Group... 13 walkers this morning on the Destades Trail in Maitlands.
Thursday 21st.  I run 5k with Chris; Lindi; Neil; Stefany and Ronel.  This morning I have some Dole stuff and then meet the Thursday Hiking Group at Maitlands for the 9km Destades Trail.

Two Harlon Coben books that Barbara and I have read this month -- Long Lost and Promise me with Aimee Biel -- a name that is well known to South Africans. Harlan includes names of people in his fiction if requested to do so. He also asks for donations to his favourite charities.
Friday 22nd.  Building in the front rooms and bathroom continues.  We have no water in the house.
Having finished the books that I took from the Library, I try to return them. But the Municipal workers are on strike so the Walmer Library is closed.  But the irony is that the Car Guard who outside of the library is there to take care of the cars.
I then try to go for a swim but the pool is closed due to a Gala on this weekend. So I am not in luck.
I make a batch of rusks to keep myself busy.

 A cold and dark start to the Heartbreak Hill 21k from the Italian Club.

 Finishers -- Peter;  Liz;  Cathy;  Gail;  Thea;  Marilyn and two Achilleans.

 Ronel completed this tough event in 2.17 this morning.

Martie Jack.... An Achillean who continues to run well.

Finishing Heartbreak hill with Liz and Letitia.
Saturday 23rd.  The Heartbreak Hill 21k is as tough as always.  We run from the Italian Club in Charlo. Race starts at 6.30am and we immediately start the climb up Constance Road. And then up and over Buffelsfontein to the New Seaveiw Road.
It had been a chilly morning to start with so I had worn a long sleeve top. But I am already warming up and have to remove a layer.
I met Ronel; Letitia; Liz; Marilyn; Demond; Kobus; Herman at the start but we start in the dark and I immediately lose sight of people. Liz is very complementary to me this morning and I am tempted to stay with her.
I certainly do not want to go our hard as I know that the return journey needs gas in the tank.  As we approach the turn at half way we start seeing runner coming towards us ... Plenty of Achilleans running today. Nice when there is an out and back to be able to greet others as you run.

It seems such a long way to the turn but eventually we start heading back.
We now have the Westerly behind us but it is a steady climb for about 8 of the 10km back to the finish. Tom and I are in the same zone. Mike Webb and Heidi Jansen Yo Yo with me on the road.  I run with Kyle and Colleen for a while. Thea passes me.
I meet up with Liz P and we kind of encourage each other as we grind up Heartbreak and then the Mount Pleasant hills.  Liz is suffering with pain in her joints but braves all of that and runs non stop to the finish.
Well done to everyone who entered and who took part in this tough event.  Marilyn is looking at her best;  Letitia is a brave soul who simply loves running and Facebook; Ronel who planned under 2.20 and beat that by three minutes; Liz who was in agony over the final five km.  Let me say it again... "I love running and I love Runners even more".  Some of the results a field of 820 runners.
19 528 1127 BRADLEY MACKENZIE ACH M 46 45-49M 1.22.15 5
20 450 1133 MICHAEL BESTER ACH M 31 SM 1.22.16 4
23 409 1170 DESMOND ZIBI ACH M 54 50-54M 1.23.21 5
55 153 1083 HANSON SINGAPHI ACH M 40 40-44M 1.32.14 3
290 471 1616 MARILYN BULL NEDBANK F 40 40-44F 1.55.38 2
378 493 745 KATHLEEN FLANAGAN CRUSADE F 32 SF 2.03.54 1
494 318 5279 HEIDI JANSEN TEMP F 51 50-54F 2.13.09 0
495 506 5506 MIKE WEBB TEMP M 58 55-59M 2.13.10 0
496 534 1147 LIZ PRINS ACH F 48 45-49F 2.13.20 1
497 241 1528 LETITIA STRAUSS NEDBANK F 38 35-39F 2.13.21 1
498 400 1116 PETER GIDDY ACH M 67 65-69M 2.13.22 1
503 396 2779 HERMAN DEKKER SAPPE M 73 70+M 2.13.34 1
531 27 1571 DORIS GERBER NEDBANK F 47 45-49F 2.15.55 1
551 245 5344 RONEL SCHEEPERS PEAAC F 43 40-44F 2.17.15 1
556 3 1126 TOM D'ARCY ACH M 72 70+M 2.17.33 1
747 119 1686 CHERYL WITTE MADIBA F 56 55-59F 2.44.03 1
748 829 4829 SHANNON BRADFORD TEMP F 21 SF 2.44.10 0
761 522 1960 ERICA ERASMUS BLUEBAY F 48 45-49F 2.46.34 1
 
Adrienne leaves for Canada and stops over in London where she meets up with Danielle and Jenny.

We are doing renovations.  The bathroom will be retiled and a new shower and handbasin fitted.

Boston and Wayne arrange for a surprise party for Sonja at the Bridge Street Brewery.

 Here is Reno who I met cycling to Addo one year with his family Riette; Erin and Payton.

 Erma and Patrick == Long time friends of Boston

 Kate (Sephton) and Brendan North; I often see Kate on the run and so suggested to Boston that they may want to invite them as well.  Ken and Kim (Wayne's sister)

 Rachel and Kristen (Daughters of Janice and Brett) with Jean and Boston who did all the arrangements  --- Next month -- July -- Janice and Rachel will run the Knysna half Marathon.  Rachel will run  the distance in 2.25 hours; while her mother, Janice, will complete the 21kay in  2.55 hours.

 Lauren; Sherry with her friends Linda and Greg

 Annake (friend of Boston) is in the dark; Zintle and Belinda work with Sonja at St Johns Methodist Church with their friend.

In the red is a friend of Sonja, Lichelle with Sonja and Janice ; who runs the Knysna half next month in 2.55Hours with her daughter Rachel (2.25 Hours)  & Brett and Wayne.
Sonja and Wayne have a party for family and friends at the Bridge St Brewery.  We get there early to watch the Springboks play England in a rugby test match in Newlands. SA Won the first two in the series but lose this match  25-10 with England totally outplaying SA and some poor play from some of the SA Team.

Found a Caracal (Rooikat) on the Ngulube Loop in Addo today.

Sunday 24th.  Addo with five men who are contracted to Aspen, installing a Machine.  Igor; Ismail; Samuel; Norman and Gerhard all from Germany.
Monday 25.  Megan is not swimming so I go on my own and swim 2500m.  1.15H.  I think that this is probably my longest swim.

This evening Barbara; Ally and I go out for supper at Arkenstone Pizza Evening. Ally goes to movies with her friend.
Tuesday -- Running with Stef; Neil; Liesl; Ronel; Viv; Mitch and Sjani.

I meet Andrea at Grassroof for a cycle.  We have our standard route that is reasonably safe up to Boundary Road on the Yellow Lines and then back past Grassroof and down to the end of the Yellow Lines and back up again.... Today there is a chilly Easterly blowing so it is to our disadvantage on the way uphill.  We stop for coffee at Grassroof after the ride.

Wednesday 27th.  Finishing off of the Bathroom and Dressing Room renovations and also the Extended bedroom on the south west side of the house.
Swimming -- 2500m 1;15hours.   Cramping at the end.
Thursday 28th.  Short run.  A bit of a mix up as I started with Mitch and then decided to join Chris but that did not work out so ran back and did about 3km

A wonderful place for a reasonably doable hike.

Josh and Daniel loved the outing including walking under the N2 bridge.
Hiking with Joshua and Daniel on the van Stadens Flower reserve hiking trail with the Thursday walkers.

I finish off reading another Harlan Coben book.  David Richings -- son of Sheila from the Thursday hiking group -- gives me a couple of Daniel Silva books to read.
Ally goes off with Oriel for the weekend to Kirkwood to stay at their farm and to take part in the Kirkwood Wildfees.  I renew my swimming credits for the season to June 2019.